Hudson Austin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hudson Austin (born April 26, 1938) was a Grenadian military leader.
Austin supported the 1979 revolution which brought Maurice Bishop to power. By 1983, he had become a general in the Grenadian military. He supported the faction led by deputy prime minister Bernard Coard which advocated more radical communist policies. On October 19, 1983, Coard and Austin led a coup against Bishop, after which Bishop and several other high-ranking government ministers were killed. Though Coard was perceived to be the leader of the coup, Austin became the new prime minister, setting up a revolutionary council with himself as chairman. This government lasted for 6 days, until the United States invaded Grenada on October 25, 1983. Austin was immediately deposed and arrested, along with the other coup leaders. He was sentenced to death along with Coard and the other coup leaders in 1986, but their sentences were later commuted to life in prison. Austin is still in prison.
